


Little Big Fire

by gambo



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: F/F, Flirting, Mutual Pining, Pining, Two girls who just don't know how to tell each other how they feel, Unintentional flirting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-16
Updated: 2018-08-16
Packaged: 2019-06-28 01:08:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15697053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gambo/pseuds/gambo
Summary: Rinkah isn’t used to feeling small, at least not in presence. So why is it that whenever she’s around Corrin, she feels as if she couldn’t be more minuscule?





	Little Big Fire

Rinkah isn’t used to feeling small. While yes, she _is_ average height for a Flame Tribe woman her age, and that means being shorter than a solid amount of her allies in the army, what she lacks in height, she makes up in presence. Being a fiery warrior of a somewhat reclusive tribe can give one that sort of reputation. And being a constant factor in battle, bringing about several key victories, doesn’t hurt that image.

Rinkah takes pride in her image, in her larger-than-life presence, and the strength that has served her and her allies well.

So _why_ is it that around that one certain person, she feels so… _small_?

Of course, there’s the physical difference in size. Rinkah is built strong, while _Corrin_ is built tall. Nearly a 10 inch difference in height between them, Corrin practically towers over Rinkah. It’s interesting. And along with that height, while being a bit softer than most of their allies, Corrin still maintains a strong physique worthy of a warrior.

It’s… flustering, to say in the least, Corrin’s body.

But that’s not the problem. (It shouldn’t be, that is.) Rinkah’s allies are, for most part, rather attractive, and she’s been more than used to _that_ for quite a while. So what’s so different about Corrin?

Maybe it’s her strange sincerity. Corrin is one to wear her heart on her sleeve, without even thinking of protecting it with any armor.

Maybe it’s her seemingly endless supply of patience for others around her (despite their wildly infuriating and clashing personalities).

Maybe it’s the fact that everytime they talk, _something_ that Corrin says, whether it be intentional or not, makes Rinkah feel… small.

Well, take their interaction that morning. Corrin had actually sought her out to try and go over strategies for the army. (Which was somewhat surprising to Rinkah, who doubted she would be Corrin’s first choice.) And to do that, rather than inviting her over to the tent where most strategy meetings take place, Corrin decided to invite Rinkah to her treehouse.

Her room.

While a bit apprehensive (and embarrassed) to accept, Rinkah saw no reason to decline. She and Corrin are allies. And, after so much time, she may be able to say… friends.

So she accepted.

And now she finds herself sitting at a small tea table, a scroll opened across it, a book placed on the corner, keeping it open (a detail which Rinkah can only think of as something that is “very Corrin”).

Corrin is talking about “gaining a perspective from everyone,” and how she wants to learn all that she can in the field of tactics. How she was so excited to finally have time to do this with Rinkah.

Strange, how her making that statement (she’s learning this from _everyone_ ) makes Rinkah feel even smaller.

(Even stranger, how Corrin’s supposed excitement to do this with _her_ makes Rinkah feel something else. A dull, yet slowly catching fire in her gut, and a notion at the back of her mind that has taken ahold of her. Could it be that she-)

“So what do you think, Rinkah?” Corrin asks, snapping Rinkah back to reality.

During her thoughts, Rinkah hasn’t even noticed that Corrin is standing very near her, leaning over her shoulder to take a better look at the map. Now, she’s looking straight at Rinkah, and Rinkah is quick to pull her gaze from Corrin’s, quick to look at the map which Corrin is pointing at, quick to avoid taking in any more of Corrin’s presence than she already finds herself doing. Her cheeks flushed a deep red, she tries to understand what Corrin is asking her.

“I-I apologize, what?” Rinkah asks, feeling a bit abashed with herself. She shouldn’t be focusing on trivial matters like what Corrin mostly likely does not feel about her (or Corrin’s long hair, her sweet face, her full lips, her bright eyes, her-).

Corrin smiles curiously, before looking back towards the map. “Well, I believe that having a bit of a more aggressive approach to taking down the enemy could be good. I think that we, the army that is, have all gotten to the point where we can take harder hits, yeah? And if we make sure the healers spread out a bit to cover as much ground as possible, then we can be more effective. It’s a bit crude, but what works works, yeah?”

Rinkah mulls over Corrin’s strategy for a bit. It’s obvious that Corrin has some skill in tactics, and that she understands the basics of a full-on attack, but she said it herself. It’s (more than) a bit crude. She’s no expert tactician.

“You’re correct about that, and I’ve noticed that you even made sure to keep healers amongst the army to avoid unnecessary casualties.” Rinkah leans towards the map, and notices Corrin beaming at her out of the corner of her eye. Notices their proximity. They’re close.

“Of course! The safety of our army comes first. It doesn’t matter how many of us are, even one loss is devastating.” Rinkah nods in approval.

“It would be wise for us to _practice_ this a few times first, though, before attempting to implement it. Simply having strength does not make us able to achieve a pure brute-force attack like this. A large army does not a strong one make.” She remembers that one from her father.

“Ah, you’re right! Rinkah, I’m so happy that you agreed to this, thank you. I hope you don’t think I’m being insincere, or over exaggerating, but I really _do_ appreciate your input. I appreciate everyone’s-” (at this, Rinkah feels a strange minimizing feeling in her chest, but pushes that feeling down) “- and all, but I feel like _you_ really do help me. If- if you don’t have a problem with it, I’d like to do these sorts of things with you more?”

Corrin’s absolute _sincerity_ brings about that weird (burning, catching) feeling again. This time, Rinkah turns to face Corrin fully. She doesn’t notice the look of surprise that marks her own face, or the flush that tinges her cheeks.

She does notice Corrin’s embarrassed look. How her lips perk into a crooked smile, how her brows knit together in a somewhat… apprehensive look, how her dark cheeks redden, how she’s clasping her hands together, almost unintentionally.

How she doesn’t try to back track, or reword her statement.

 _That_ pushes away the small feeling that has clouded Rinkah’s heart.

(Reading others’ feelings is not one of Rinkah’s strong suits. She hopes that she is not misreading this.)

She stands up slowly, pushing the chair out from behind her, and leans towards Corrin. She grabs one of her hands, then, slowly, with as much time as possible to give Corrin time to pull away, brings it towards her lips. She presses a gentle kiss to it.

(Dear gods, she hopes that she isn’t misreading this.)

She sees Corrin’s deeply flushed face (despite Corrin’s best efforts to cover it with her free hand).

“I’d say that I don’t have any problems with that,” she says, looking up at her with what she hopes is a somewhat enticing look.

“O-oh, uh, yes, that sounds- That sounds good, then,” Corrin stumbles, her blush spreading to the ends of her pointed ears. Rinkah feels some weird form of pride swell in her chest at that.

“In _fact_ ,” she continues, gently turning Corrin’s hand over, kissing the palm this time, “I’d like to spend more time with you in general.”

And despite the difference in stature, despite the different presences that they maintain, Rinkah feels not _small_ , not _big_ , but _humbled_ , _grounded_ by this. (And that fire in her gut truly is catching, overtaking her feelings, senses, notions, fears.)

“I. I love you,” she mutters, and hears a gasp escaping Corrin’s lips.

“You-you do?” Corrin responds, “R-really?” Rinkah is amused by the honest surprise in Corrin’s voice. Does Corrin think that Rinkah interacts like this with any woman? Or is she just _that_ surprised that Rinkah has feelings towards her?

“Yes,” Rinkah responds, feeling a bit deterred, a bit nervous, but nonetheless determined. She gently brings Corrin’s palm to her bound chest, over her heart. “I could not accept that I had feelings for you, because you remind me of- of _that_ day. And I think that’s a reason why I’d been avoiding you.”

“A-ah, I’m- I’m sorry about that-”

“But. I do think that like you said before, we should be grateful for the fact that fate brought us together like this.” She pauses for a moment. “That is to say, if you feel the same way about me?”

She feels the hand over her heart move towards her face, and sees Corrin’s other hand do the same. Corrin’s hands aren’t very warm compared to Rinkah’s skin. Her fingers are somewhat calloused, though those are new. (She has the hands of someone who has _trained_ , sure, but only recently actually _battled_. The hands of someone who is still unused to a blade.) Her touch is soft, as if she’s scared that she’ll do something wrong.

When Corrin leans in, their faces coming close enough that their noses barely brush together, Rinkah understands at least some of her previous feelings. (It’s not just that she feels small, but-) Corrin’s presence, her _there_ -ness, feels larger than life in this moment.

“Is this okay?” Corrin whispers, almost reverent of the atmosphere that they’ve both built up to this moment.

“Yes.” Rinkah barely even finishes her confirmation before she feels lips press against her own, Corrin’s hands practically squishing her cheeks. She breaks out into a smile and kisses back, bringing her arms over Corrin’s shoulders and laughing when she feels her try to say something against her lips.

“I do- I feel the same way about you- I _love_ you-” Corrin manages in between kisses, before pulling away completely.

Looking at this woman who she not only loves, but loves her in return, Rinkah feels happy. She feels ecstatic.

After that morning, Rinkah can still say that she isn’t used to feeling small. More accurately, though, she still isn’t quite used to the feelings that threaten to burst out of her at any moment, the fire that is almost too big for her body.

But she knows that she can get used to it. She can also get used to the warm, loving smiles that Corrin sends her way, and the feeling of their fingers intertwined.

**Author's Note:**

> I've got big emotion about these two...


End file.
